Anne Arundel reboots a retooled D.A.R.E. drug education program

County Executive Steve Schuh, in partnership with Anne Arundel County Public Schools and the Police Department held a press conference to announce the return of the D.A.R.E. drug education program in county schools.

County Executive Steve Schuh, in partnership with Anne Arundel County Public Schools and the Police Department held a press conference to announce the return of the D.A.R.E. drug education program in county schools.

In the midst of the opioid crisis, Anne Arundel County is relaunching the D.A.R.E. anti-drug program in public schools.

The re-launch was announced Friday at a news conference with County Executive Steve Schuh, county police Chief Timothy Altomare and Anne Arundel County Public Schools Superintendent George Arlotto at Lindale Middle School in Linthicum, one of the four schools in the pilot program.

“Opioid addiction is public enemy No. 1,” Schuh said. “It threatens our workforce, public safety and our very quality of life, and we are committed to pursue every strategy available.”

Schuh said education is at the very heart of reversing the opioid trend.

“We must educate our citizens about the dangers of these drugs before they become addicted, and reach young people about the potency and incredible addictive qualities of opioids,” he said.

The pilot program will begin Feb. 5 at Lindale, Annapolis and Corkran middle schools and, if successful, will expand to other schools.

County Executive Steve Schuh, in partnership with Anne Arundel County Public Schools and the Police Department held a press conference to announce the return of the D.A.R.E. drug education program in county schools.

(Paul W. Gillespie)

The Annapolis Police Department began an effort at Eastport Elementary School at the beginning of the school year.

The program was part of the curriculum in county schools in the 1990s until the 2002-2003 school year when it was cut due to budget restraints at the same time research questioned the program’s effectiveness.

Since then two things have changed, officials said Friday. The D.A.R.E. program has changed its curriculum focus from a lecture format to one that engages students in role-playing and other interactive exercises, adopting the precepts of a program called “Keepin’ it REAL.” The acronym stands for Refuse, Explain, Avoid and Leave.

And two — the intensity of the drug crisis has reached public health emergency status.

“These are empirical enough for me. D.A.R.E. stopped in the 2002-2003 school year. In the three years leading up to that school year, we had a grand total of 504 overdoses in Anne Arundel County,” he said.

“In the three years leading up to today, we had a grand total of 2,215 overdoses, an increase of 349 percent.”

But he said that does not reflect the number of people who have died. “In 2015, when we really started paying attention, we lost 51 souls. Last year (2016) we lost 119. And in 2017 we lost 155 people.”

He said part of the problem was education. “No one was telling them how risky it was to start down that path.”

The event also included the unveiling of an official D.A.R.E. county police car with graphics designed by children from the Freetown Boys & Girls Club, some of whom attended and received a round of applause. They also got a ride in the vehicle after the event concluded.

Arlotto welcomed the program as a supplement to work already being done in county schools.

“Our schools have refocused our efforts in engaging students in lessons and discussions about character, making good decisions and the perils of drug and heroin use,” he said. “We are glad to bring back D.A.R.E. to augment and enhance those efforts and are glad to have the additional resources.”

Altomare said the D.A.R.E. program helped a generation avoid drugs. “Re-instituting it will be pivotal in preventing countless students from walking down the long, dark path of addiction.”

Schuh agreed. “Getting to young people to help them to understand dangers of these drugs and helping them to never never become addicted in the first place is how we will overcome this in the long run.”

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Here are some key projects with designs and talks underway.

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Here are some key projects with designs and talks underway.

Here are some key projects with designs and talks underway.

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Severn School 10th grade student Mackenzie Boughey, 16, has organized a local March For Our Lives Annapolis rally to coincided with the national March For Our Lives rally taking place March 24 in Washington D.C.

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